


what we lose in the fire

by serenitysea



Series: we are proof that the heart is a risky fuel to burn [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 5 Things, Alternate Universe, F/M, grant ward is in no way prepared for this, skye is stubborn as the day is long, these feels are nothing we were ever trained for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-10
Packaged: 2018-02-28 02:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2715410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysea/pseuds/serenitysea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>aka</b>: four times ward encountered skye from an alternate universe (and the one time from his).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. hydra!skye; i'm a saint when i'm deceiving (everybody thinks i'm someone else)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things you should know: 
> 
> \+ this story is **not** in chronological order. in fact, it's deliberately out of order, to give you that disorienting feeling that ward has each time he meets a different skye. 
> 
> \+ this takes place shortly after ward escapes shield custody but before he encounters the team.

The first time he sees her she nearly kills him.  
  
There is a bullet with his name on it and it's headed for his heart.  
  
He _knows_ that technique. Garrett taught it to him.  
  
Skye is leanly muscled and looking dangerous. There is an edge to her that he has never seen more than a glimpse of before — but it was only a glimpse and now it is what _defines_ her. A cut kisses the ridge of her cheekbone.  
  
"Hey lover. Don't look so surprised." Skye tucks the gun into her waistband. "You didn't think you were John's _only_ ace in the hole, did you?"  
  
*  
  
It turns out as terrifying as Garrett's influence had been on him, Skye (or at least, _this_ Skye) has the backbone to stand her ground far more regularly than he ever did.  
  
And she's got the bruises to prove it.  
  
"This one here," she yanks her top down, affording him an all access pass to her black lace bra and the patchwork black and blue that mars her skin, "came after I refused to drop kick a team of new agents into next year. John didn't like that I challenged his authority."  
  
"He never does," he says quietly. The struggle to reach for her, to put his hands on her and attend to her bruises and _hurts_ — is overwhelming. He has to fight hard not to pull her to him and shelter her with his own body.  
  
She doesn't move to pull her shirt back into place, and instead looks at him curiously. "So what's your story? Big strong dude like you, out here in the woods."  
  
"When you break out of SHIELD custody, and big brother wants your head…"  
  
"Ah. So you haven't killed him yet."  
  
His eyes fly to meet hers. "I killed my brother?"  
  
Skye nods, seemingly unconcerned. "First thing you did when Garrett brought you back to civilization. Heard the marks he gave you afterwards landed you in ICU for a month."  
  
Fear races down his spine as he imagines all too easily the damage from an encounter like that.  
  
When Skye moves to reach inside her jacket, Ward clears his throat and lazily reveals the gun that he's had trained on her for the past twenty minutes.  
  
"It's cute how you think I didn't know you've had that on me since I just about killed you."  
  
"You're not _that_ good."  
  
"Honey." She grins brilliantly. "Of _course_ I am." When he doesn't react, she rolls her eyes. "I need to let my team know that I'm okay or they're going to send a strike unit to this location."  
  
"Or it could be an ambush for me." Ward counters, refusing to take his thumb off the trigger.  
  
"An ambush is so messy," she says, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I much prefer the intimacy of the…" her eyes lock with his.  
  
Gunshots rip into the trees just over their heads.  
  
"That's the third time this month," Skye curses darkly. "What does a girl have to do to get some action around here?"  
  
Ward is already reacting — he grabs Skye and rolls them to the ground, intent on covering her body beneath his.  
  
She bucks underneath him once (which causes all _sorts_ of interesting reactions) in warning. "Dammit, you idiot, get _off_ me!"  
  
"And watch you take a bullet to the head?" He rolls them twice to take cover by a bank of trees. "Not gonna happen."  
  
Skye brings her knee up and he only just manages to dodge in time. "That is _my_ strike team!"  
  
"Then why," Ward yanks her hands up to pin them over her head, "Are they trying to kill us?"  
  
"Because I haven't checked in with them like I was _supposed_ to," she growls and manages to access her wrist comm to call them off. "Stand _down_."  
  
The gunfire ceases and suddenly the two of them are alone.  
  
Skye's chest is heaving as she struggles to get her heart rate under control.  
  
Ward becomes acutely aware of the compromising position they are in. "I'm sorry." He clears his throat and begins to move off of her.  
  
Skye jackknifes her legs up and knocks him off balance, forcing him to fall back down on top of her. The grin on her face is downright _filthy_. "I'm not."  
  
*  
  
When he wakes up there is a sated contentment and soreness to his limbs that he hasn't felt in a very long time.  
  
A smug grin covers his face as he rolls to the side, intending to —  
  
— She's _gone_.  
  
Ward feels the grin dissolve as he tries to make sense of it all.  
  
( _had it just been a dream?_ )  
  
He rolls to his back, yelping when something cold and metal presses into his skin. Underneath his pillow is the gun she'd used last night.  
  
She'd left it behind.  
  
 _Interesting_.  
  
Ward runs an experimental hand over the heavy beard on his face in contemplation.  
  
Time to get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \+ chapter title from alexandra slade's _bad girl_  
>  \+ fic title from mynabirds' _what we gained in the fire_  
>  \+ series title from ohia's _being in love_  
>  \+ if you follow me on [tumblr](), you know where this is headed. i'll have the other parts formatted and posted soon!


	2. orphanage!skye; god forbid you hurt her twice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BUCKLE UP.
> 
> \+ this takes place shortly after skye and coulson escape the bus from ward and mike.

Ward finds her in an alley in the bowels of the city.

He feels his stomach bottom out. _Skye_.  
  
She turns and looks around. "Hello?"  
  
Ward feels his jaw snap closed. ( _She didn't remember?_ )  
  
And then the hammer drops.   
  
This is another Skye.   
  
In fact that the longer he looks at her, the details aren't adding up. Her hair is a little shorter and her clothes are in fairly decent condition. No baggy plaid shirts or black jeans. She has a softness to her features and a surprising lack of awareness of her body that speaks volumes.   
  
She's still intelligent though, and he can see the facts adding up in her head. (He's got three days' of scruff and bloodstains all over his clothes. There is also the not so small matter of his lack of energy and ability to stand on his own power for long. He needs to come up with a story, and fast.)  
  
"I'm Grant," He says, extending a hand.   
  
"Mary," She places her hand in his and rolls her eyes, leaning in as if to tell him a huge secret. "But everyone calls me Skye."   
  
"Skye," he repeats slowly, as if trying it out for the first time. As if he's never said the name before. "Do you know where I can find the nearest hotel for the night?"  
  
"You'll come back home with me to the Orphanage," she says, like it's the most natural thing in the world. "We'll get you some new clothes and a good meal."   
  
It is almost natural for him to put a hand on her back to guide her safely along and she flashes a grateful smile at him.   
  
"Thanks," she says, grinning sheepishly. "I swear I'm the world's biggest klutz."  
  
"Don't worry," his answering smile is strained only if one knew what to look for (and _thank god_ , she doesn't), "I'm pretty good at surviving. Uneven terrain, that is."  
  
"Looks like it," she glances at his clothes and raises an eyebrow.   
  
"Lost my hunting buddies. They'll probably turn up tomorrow morning."   
  
"Let's see what we can do about getting you a shower then," Skye wrinkles her nose, "And maybe you can give them a call while we're at it."   
  
"I'd appreciate it," Ward answers, trying not to trip on the deja vu that is slamming him in the face.    
  
*   
  
They wind up getting a hotel room anyway.   
  
Her bus is nowhere to be found (not that it would be; Ward isn't sure how the multiple universes thing totally works but she's been dropped into his and it's unlikely that her orphanage even _has_ a bus around here) and he can't risk being seen right now.   
  
(Not to mention, if Garrett found out there was _another_ Skye in the world, he'd — Ward doesn't even want to _think_ about what he'd do.)   
  
"It wouldn't be the first time they went back to the Orphanage without me," Skye murmurs, trailing her hand along the shabby curtains and staring out the window.   
  
Ward looks at where she's standing backlit against the sunset and feels his heart clench. He reminds himself that she doesn't know what he is or the things he's done. This the fresh start he wanted for them. "Won't they be worried about you?"  
  
She turns around, biting her lip sheepishly. "I, uh…" she shrugs, "like to get away sometimes. I always come back, so they don't worry."   
  
He can't help it. He _has_ to ask. "And you're not worried being in a hotel room with me?"  
  
She draws back in surprise. " _Should_ I be? You're not going to hurt me."   
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"I just do. You're a good man."   
  
The absolute faith she has in him is _staggering_.   
  
This one might just kill him.   
  
*   
  
They make a feast out of the paltry offerings from the mini bar and Ward is able to convince (with money) the bell boy to run down to McDonalds and pick them up some cheeseburgers and fries.   
  
Skye is devouring the food appreciatively (as she normally does) and grinning up at him in between mouthfuls.   
  
"What?" He doesn't even have to consciously soften the edge in his voice; there's something about just _being_ around her takes the sting from his actions.   
  
"We should do that game with the drinking."   
  
Ward chokes on his food.   
  
Skye laughs at him and it's like the entire room has been light up like a supernova. It's going to be impossible to deny her anything.   
  
"Sure," he finally manages to say, clearing the lump in his throat under the guise of coughing. "Any particular reason why this is suddenly striking your fancy?"  
  
"There's no one to play it with at the Orphanage, and besides. I trust you."   
  
(It's official. Someone needs to get him a bottle of vodka so he can drown in it.)  
  
*  
  
Skye is loose-limbed from the alcohol (which he has been carefully monitoring) and favoring him with a soft and fond smile.   
  
"Come here," she pats the space on the bed next to her.   
  
Every muscle in his body seizes.   
  
He's been able to direct the conversation in a way that put the majority of the drinking on her (very small pours on his part) so that he can stay alert. He doesn't know if Garrett will be sending a team out for him (leaving the Bus with Mike at the helm was not an ideal plan but he'd needed to blow off steam and never intended to stay away this long) or if Coulson is combing the city for him and so he has to remain aware to all the possibilities.   
  
"Come _on_ , Grant," she giggles, rolling to her side to give him more room. "I don't bite." A devious look crosses her face — one he's all too familiar with — and he's on the bed before she can complete that thought in her tipsy state.   
  
He lays still while Skye immediately swarms her limbs around him, settling her head on his chest. "Much better," she hums appreciatively.   
  
Though he has long since changed out of his torn henley, it is impossible not to feel her ear align with the bruised skin underneath his shirt; and it's almost like she's restarting his heart and saving his life all over again. (The look in her eyes when she'd commanded Mike to restart his heart; it is _agony_ reliving that moment and somehow he's unable to do anything else.)  
  
Ward tells himself he is doing the right thing when he puts an arm around her and forces his body not to react when she snuggles closer.   
  
"Hey, relax." Skye's voice is slow and drenched in sleep as she continues, "The outside world doesn't exist right now. It's just you and me. You're safe."  
  
"Yeah." There is a burning sting in his eyes when he nods slowly. He breaks every promise he's made to himself as he combs a hand through her hair, comforting them both. "Safe."   
  
He can't explain to her that once he falls asleep, there's no guarantee that she'll be here in the morning.   
  
(And he needs her so badly to be here in the morning. God help him, but she's somehow the worst and best kinds of savior right now; healing the destruction he'd helped _his_ Skye tear into place and creating new jagged fissures of pain where he didn't think possible.)   
  
From some reserve of strength, Skye manages one last movement to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. She huffs sleepily and finally her breathing evens out into slumber.   
  
Ward lays on his back with his arm around her and stares at the ceiling.   
  
This is the worst kind of hell.  
  
*   
  
Of course she's gone when he wakes up.   
  
There is a key threaded on a necklace atop her pillow.   
  
Ward curls his fingers around it tightly so he can feel the edges biting into his skin.   
  
He has to go back.   
  
Garrett will be waiting for him.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \+ title comes from rachael yamagata's _pause the tragic ending_


	3. rising tide!skye; watching yourself ripped to shreds (laughing as you bleed)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL THE PAINFUL FEELS FULL SPEED AHEAD!
> 
> \+ also, if you're into things being in order, this is the first skye that ward encounters. 
> 
> \+ this takes place just after skye is shot.

The first time Grant Ward meets Skye from another universe, he has spent the past five and a half hours watching _his_ Skye fighting for her life inside a hyperbaric chamber. 

"So what's _that_ ," Skye jerks a thumb toward the general direction of the medbay and hubbub, "all about? Somebody die?"  
  
(He _must_ be dreaming.)  
  
*   
  
_Here's how it works_ :   
  
  
Every time Ward closes his eyes, he sees Skye laying there. Broken. Bleeding. _Dying_.   
  
He comes back to awareness, gasping for air. For anything that will help him make sense of this horrible feeling that everything in his universe has just turned inside out.   
  
He doesn't get an answer.   
  
Every time he closes his eyes, he sees her.   
  
Until.   
  
He opens his eyes.   
  
And there she is.   
  
In that stupid low-cut purple shirt he remembers _all too well_ , smirking like she's hit the jackpot and squirreled it all away.   
  
"So." Her voice _stings_ like a particularly fierce kind of agony. It's just like the day they met. "This is how ends for me."   
  
*  
  
"Do they know?" She still has it; that unnerving gaze that slices through all of his carefully pieced together details and covers until he feels like he's been laid bare in front of her. It was unsettling when she was locked in the Cage with him then — and it's just as unsettling now that she can freely roam his bunk.   
  
"Know what?"  
  
Skye pauses from where she is rifling through his identical wardrobe of black and gray tee shirts. "That you're working for Garrett?"  
  
His mouth goes dry. "What are you… talking about?"  
  
She rolls her eyes and turns her back on his paltry clothing options. "I know the truth, Ward. Garrett recruited you out of Juvie. You've been double agenting for him this whole time. I'm not entirely sure _why_ , but I can take a pretty educated guess and say that no one on Team Bus knows what special kind of traitor they have in their midst."  
  
This is worse than the time when an entire Mafia den had their artillery trained on him and there was no end in sight. (Garrett was the one who extracted him for that op. He'd never let him forget it either.)  
  
*  
  
It distantly occurs to Ward that being away from his team with a Skye doppleganger in his bunk is not all that different from when they first met and he'd been locked in interrogation with her. The staring/mexican standoff is about the same.   
  
She doesn't have a truth serum to inject into his veins this time but, as it turns out, it doesn't seem like she needs one.   
  
(She knows the truth.)  
  
*  
  
Ward struggles to regain the upper hand of the conversation, turning the tables on her. He's never been this sloppy in his work before. _Ever_.   
  
"But your parents —"  
  
"— Yeah, so as it turns out," She flops backward onto his bed dramatically, "I just plugged a little surprise into your mainframe after I accepted Coulson's offer and then had a _total_ change of heart. I never needed to be on this team." Her eyes narrow carefully. "Not the way _you_ need to be on this team."   
  
Ward calls upon all of his formidable training to force his breathing to remain steady even as his heart rate rapidly accelerates. "I can explain."   
  
Skye snorts inelegantly, planting her booted feet on his bed to make an inverted V of her legs.   
  
It is killing him not to be able to ask her to remove her dirty shoes from the clean sheets where he sleeps.   
  
(But maybe there's a metaphor in there somewhere.)  
  
"I don't know what he's offering you," she turns, leveling him with a clear gaze. "But it can't possibly be worth me dying." When he doesn't respond, she adds, "Unless you hate me _that_ much —"   
  
"— _No_." His outburst seems to startle both of them. "I don't. I could _never_."   
  
(How can she _think_ that? He would have taken that bullet a thousand times over before ever letting her walk into the villa. _This_ is almost worse than walking down those godforsaken steps and seeing her in a pool of blood.)  
  
She swings her legs down and sits up on the bed. "Could have fooled me."   
  
Her smart mouthed response has his blood boiling and he has to fight the urge to shake some sense into her.   
  
This is not the sarcastic rookie agent in training he's used to having _Supervising Officer_ leverage on. This girl is dangerous, and has uncovered all sorts of secrets that were never meant to be found. She knows _too_ much.   
  
(And yet, she knows _nothing_.)  
  
She must see something _wrecked_ in his expression because she seems to take pity on him. "Sit down," Skye orders quietly, getting to her feet.   
  
(Theirs is a role reversal in more ways than one.)   
  
"I'm going to tell you how this works."   
  
His eyes gleam in anticipation. Knowledge is good. He can work with knowledge.   
  
"But Ward," Skye cautions almost sadly, "I'm only explaining it once. And I probably won't be here for long."   
  
"What does that even —"   
  
"— No interruptions."  
  
Ward closes his mouth and compartmentalizes the dozen questions demanding answers; the overwhelming fear he has for _his_ Skye, bloodstained and battered; the relentless logic bellowing like klaxons in his head, insistent that this cannot be happening.   
  
*  
  
So as it turns out, there's more than one universe in the world.   
  
Which, actually, is not as outrageous of an idea as one might think.   
  
Thunder and Trickster Gods and the Nine Realms they know of are really just the tip of the iceberg.   
  
Skye tells him of the others she's met. (Other _Skyes_.) The Alien Princess (what his team would refer to as an 0-8-4); the girl who never left the orphanage (she seems surprised that he knows about that at all); the assassin Hydra lets out to play under John Garrett's command.   
  
_There are others_ , she says. _But these are the ones you should look for_.   
  
When he wants to ask questions, she shakes her head.   
  
_Don't let me die_ , she says and the look in her eyes is achingly similar to one he has been on the receiving end post-Beserker rage. There's something too familiar in her eyes and it _burns_ like a fire scorching up his veins from the inside out. _I've got a lot to live for_.   
  
Something sharp pierces his neck and he wheels around in shock to see her standing with a small syringe in hand. That damned smirk is back on her face and she can't seem to keep the satisfaction from filling her eyes. _C'mon. You didn't really think I'd let you get the drop on me, did you? That's not how this works_.   
  
He fights it for as long as he can, determined to prove to her that _this_ time will be different. He can change.   
  
(He can _save_ her.)  
  
He feels small fingers curling around his, folding something securely into his hand.   
  
Then he feels nothing.   
  
*  
  
Ward wakes up with a horrible spasm in his neck. Something is jabbing into his palm and he slowly unfurls his fingers to reveal a usb drive.   
  
A little surprise after all.   
  
May's voice comes over the speakers to announce that they'll be landing in 90 seconds.   
  
He swings his legs over the side of the bed and mechanically gets dressed. He needs to be ready to face whatever is on the other side of the door.  
   
  
(Thinking about a Skye who isn't _dying_ doesn't get his head into the game.)   
  
(He kind of wishes she had stayed.)  
  
(Then he feels like a traitor.)  
  
(He doesn't know why.)  
  
  
Just before he leaves his bunk, he twirls the usb drive restlessly and stuffs it into his pocket.   
  
_Like pieces solving a puzzle_.  
  
Ward pulls together all the pieces that knit him into _Grant Ward, Agent of Shield_ and hopes for a miracle.  
  
He knows he doesn't deserve one.   
  
But a universe without Skye in it is not a universe worth living in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that should bring us up to speed, guys!
> 
> come find me on [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com)!


	4. alien princess!skye; a perfect halo of cold hair and lightining (sets you off against the planet's last chance)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to get this out before next week's episode; even though this is not entirely canon compliant, i didn't want to risk the chance of anything getting jossed. (though i doubt that will happen.)
> 
> the final part of this is kind of devastating, but you guys won't have to worry about seeing it for another week, i think.

In the privacy of his Hydra quarters, Ward finally allows the tension in his neck and back to soften and release.  
  
He had survived the meeting with Whitehall and Skye's father.  
  
The pieces of his plan are falling into place. This is happening.  
  
He exhales slowly, quietly.  
  
And when he takes his next breath — Skye is there.  
  
Not _his_ Skye.  
  
The final one.  
  
*  
  
She is very different than the ones who have come before.  
  
She holds herself unnaturally still and has the kind of chilling composure he has only ever seen before in those who have made peace with death and have nothing to fear.  
  
"So." When she steps forward to meet him, he is surprised to find that she is somehow taller and that power seems to emanate from her in waves. "It's come down to this."  
  
*  
  
He pulls out a chair for her because it seems the polite thing to do.  
  
She doesn't take it.  
  
"I've seen all of us," Skye reveals in this deeply unsettling, lilting voice. "You are a powerful counterbalance, Grant Ward."  
  
He frowns deeply. "…I don't understand."  
  
"No. You wouldn't." Something that vaguely resembles a smile appears on her face. She continues to stare at him for several long nerve-wracking moments. "In my universe, you don't exist."  
  
*  
  
It is a curious thing, to be told that you don't exist.  
  
Ward struggles with trying to process that piece of information and assimilate the part where she considers him a counterbalance.  
  
 _What does that mean?_  
  
*  
  
He gathers all the fraying threads of his concentration and pulls them back together. "Is this about the Obelisk?"  
  
"The _Obelisk_ ," she spits derisively, as an angry look crosses her face. "Is only the tip of the iceberg."  
  
"She's going to meet up with her father." Ward tries to explain, struggling to keep the conversation on track. "He has the Obelisk and he'll use her —"  
  
"— _No_. You can't allow him to do that."  
  
"I'm trying to do everything in my power _not_ to, but —"  
  
"You can stop it. Keep her from becoming like me."  
  
In that moment, he understands.  
  
This Skye — this incredibly powerful and hauntingly sad version of the girl he knows — has held the Obelisk and used it and paid the price for it.  
  
"I split us up so we could find you. To prevent the worst from happening."  
  
His head is spinning. She talks in riddles and he just wants _absolutes_ to define the mission parameters. "What do I do?"  
  
"Take with you what the others left behind. You'll need all of it to survive."  
  
Ward mentally catalogues what he has in his possession. _the gun. the key. the usb drive._  
  
"Like pieces solving a puzzle."  
  
Approval lights in her eyes, bringing a warmth he remembers seeing a very long time ago. "There's one other thing." She turns up her hand, and a small metal disk appears, slightly curved around the edges. "You'll need this to get back."  
  
Well.  
  
That doesn't sound ominous or anything.  
  
*  
  
She tells him what she can of her father and the quest he's on to reunite Skye with the Obelisk and raise the City.  
  
Of what happened to her mother and the horrible end to her life.  
  
(If he didn't have enough reasons to want Whitehall dead, her certainly had them now.)  
  
Of the future if his Skye succeeds.  
  
"You cannot fail." It sounds like a prophecy and an order and a death sentence all at once.  
  
He would go to the end of the earth for her, if that was what she wanted.  
  
"I won't," he promises.  
  
It's impossible but it feels like something drops heavily and the reverb echoes in his head for a long while. Like he's been marked for something. Like there is no stopping this now.  
  
(Was there ever?)  
  
*  
  
After they have been talking for what seems like hours (though he suddenly can't locate a clock to verify the time) there comes a natural pause in the conversation.  
  
He wants to ask her if she's spent time with the others.  
  
If she knows his Skye and how it works; does she mourn for the lost innocence of Skye from the orphanage or get her cruel smile from the Skye that works for Garrett alongside him; if she regrets not coming on the team as he secretly thinks the Skye that stayed with the Rising Tide does. He has so many questions and yet, there is something in her eyes flashing like a storm warning that tells him to keep his mouth shut.  
  
Skye tilts her head to the side, studying him curiously. "What would you give to save her?"  
  
" _Everything_."  
  
His answer is immediate and borderline desperate and he doesn't even care.  
  
Her eyes light up with appreciation and she nods. "So be it."  
  
*  
  
Of course she's gone when he wakes up in the morning.  
  
There is a new message on his tablet; Whitehall is moving quickly and wants to finalize things before he turns him loose on Shield.  
  
The metal disk is slightly warm to the touch as he slips it into his pocket. It doesn't weigh more than a few grams and is somehow curiously lighter than it looks.  
  
He tucks the gun in the back of waistband; the usb drive he puts in his other pocket. The key, still threaded on the rope, he pulls over his head and hides under his shirt.  
  
 _you'll need all of it to survive._  
  
He's ready.  
  
In this, he will not fail.  
  
No matter what.


	5. skye; i'm not the girl you once put your faith in, just someone who looks like me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE ARE NO SPOILERS FOR THE MID SEASON FINALE HERE.

The world is about to end.  
  
Skye is down with a bullet to her right arm (she can't provide cover or backup) and he can't think beyond getting her _out_ of there alive and safe and —  
  
Everything freezes.  
  
*  
  
They stand at the mouth of the cave together. It had been disgustingly easy to give both Coulson and Whitehall a false lead so that they could remain on target without worrying about any interference. Electronic communications had gone down two minutes ago and Ward doesn't need anyone to tell him that this is a horrible idea.  
  
Skye looks nervous but her body language is still a flat calm. She has learned much in their time apart. He would be lying if he said he wasn't proud.  
  
Ward clears his throat. "If we do this, we're going in together."  
  
"The last time someone went down there who wasn't approved, they went crazy and tried to kill everyone I love." She favors him with a sarcastic smile. "You're not crazy, but…"  
  
Ward rolls his eyes. "I'm not leaving you."  
  
He says it flippantly, because _this_?  
  
All of this is just _too much_ and if she wants to pretend like this is just a stupid game to get through it — after everything, after all that they've been through; she still reacts and doesn't overthink it and reverts to humor and flippancy to get her past the heavy moments — and he's not going to let her see how damn _worried_ he is.  
  
"Fine." Skye finally says, shaking him from his thoughts. "I need a gun."  
  
He almost, _almost_ laughs.  
  
 _Finally_. A problem he can actually solve.  
  
"Here." Ward removes the gun left behind by an assassin with Skye's face and _go to Hell_ attitude and hands it over.  
  
It fits in her hand perfectly.  
  
He watches as a weird sense of deja vu overtakes her and she shakes it off. "And you just had this one lying around for me?"  
  
"Skye," Ward laughs shortly, and there is a bitterness creeping into his tone that he can't rein in. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you the half of it."  
  
*  
  
Things crystalize back into focus and can _just_ barely turn his head to see—  
  
She's back.  
  
The last one.  
  
Alien Skye with the rippling power and lethal force.  
  
She sighs and casts her glance at the younger version of herself — torn black clothes, cuts along her arms and cheek, defiance writ in her every breath — and Ward knows that everything is about to change.  
  
*  
  
When they reach the random padlock at the end of the tunnel, he chuckles.  
  
Skye looks at him as if he has lost his mind.  
  
(Maybe he has.)  
  
Ward sighs and dips a hand into his pocket and Skye stares at him incredulously. "Let me guess: you have a key that just so _happens_ to fit in that lock."  
  
Because he knows it won't make any difference, he drops the key into her open hand. "Go ahead."  
  
She fits the key into the lock and it falls open with a clank. Darkness echoes beyond them.  
  
" _Wait_." Shades of a weathered calm and patient SO infuse his voice.  
  
Skye pauses irritably. "What now?"  
  
"I'll go first." He fingers the usb drive in his pocket and holds it out to her.  
  
She gives him a very strange look. "What am I supposed to do with this? Stick it in someone's _eye_ and hope for the best?"  
  
It's a bizarre kind of relief that she's still _this_ sarcastic, despite their dire circumstances. It probably shouldn't be, but the whole situation defies the boundaries of _normal_.  
  
"Just…" He sighs and tries not to imagine all the horrible things that could be lurking in wait for them. This is the worst sort of plan; he can't get a read on all the variables and if he can't do that then he can't plan for her escape and safety. He _hates_ it. "Don't lose it."  
  
"I kind of think we have more important things to worry about right now but," Skye says, and he is so, _so_ tired of all of this.  
  
"Skye," he says wearily, "Hold on tight."  
  
And he grabs her hand and pulls her into the depths.  
  
*  
  
"She has the potential," she nods to where Skye (the only Skye that Ward has ever truly loved) is sprawled on the ground, where even her hair is in stop motion. "To become something truly terrifying. Far worse than whatever our father thinks."  
  
"I'm not going to let that happen."  
  
"You said you wouldn't fail," she says, and her voice is a lung-crushing benediction. "I believe you."  
  
*  
  
Cal is waiting for them at the tunnels' end.  
  
The thing about Cal is —  
  
Well.  
  
He's a broken man.  
  
(Ward can empathize with that.)  
  
He's a broken man and he lets his emotions get the best of him at times (something Ward has spent his entire life guarding against) but at the end of the day, he really _does_ love his daughter. He loves Skye.  
  
(Another thing Ward can empathize with.)  
  
It's just that.  
  
Turning Skye into a weapon to be used against Whitehall or anyone who ever dares to mess with them again — that isn't what Skye wants.  
  
And Ward is prepared to fight to the death to keep that from happening.  
  
"I'll never do it," Skye stands before her father with an inner peace Ward recognizes from training with May. "You have to know that. No matter how bad it gets, I'm _never going to do this_."  
  
"Sweetheart," Cal sighs, tipping his head to the side as if he is truly sorrowful. "I was afraid you were going to say that."  
  
Shots are fired. Skye goes down. The Obelisk lights up.  
  
Everything goes _still_.  
  
*  
  
So the world is probably going to end.  
  
*  
  
Suspended in motion where he stands, Cal watches them with eyes that slowly but surely track their every move.  
  
"That won't do," Skye murmurs reprovingly, tendrils of power almost trailing behind her. "I can't allow you to unravel everything."  
  
She stands next to the man she calls father in another lifetime and waves her hand in front of his eyes, fixing them in place. No longer can he stare with that otherworldly sense and figure out what they are doing.  
  
"You have your key?"  
  
"I gave it to her to get through the door and —"  
  
She shakes her head. "That was _her_ key. _Your_ key," a slight gesture of her fingers and the weird metal disk comes floating in between them. "Is not meant for her."  
  
It's like they're talking in circles again. He fights the strong urge to scrub his hand over his face in frustration.  
  
Ward plucks the disk from the air and curls his fingers around it. "I'll hang onto it. Promise."  
  
"And you always keep your promises," she murmurs to herself, suddenly looking inexplicably sad. "You'll need it to get back."  
  
He opens his mouth to ask where, exactly he is coming back from —  
  
*  
  
 _what would you give to save her?_ she asks.  
  
 _everything_ , he says.  
  
As if there was any doubt.  
  
*  
  
— Ward feels himself splitting into a thousand fractured pieces and then —  
  
*  
  
Skye wakes up on the Bus, in the medbay.  
  
A sick feeling of deja vu overtakes her until her gaze lands on Jemma's half-curled bob. She sighs in relief, which in turn, signals her friend that she is awake.  
  
"Thought we'd lost you that time," Jemma says, trying to smile at her reassuringly.  
  
"It'll take more than a bullet to keep me down," she distractedly replies. ( _What is she forgetting?_ ) This is their standard banter for post-op patch jobs and now seems like an appropriate time to fall back into familiar patterns.  
  
Something is not right.  
  
"Jemma," Skye frowns, trying to remember what had gone down. "Where is Ward?"  
  
Jemma's expression clears and settles into a careful blankness. "Gone."  
  
She snorts. "Well, yeah, I mean, I didn't exactly expect him to stick around after he saved me from dying in that place but —"  
  
"— No, Skye." Jemma stands tall, as if her rigid posture will somehow enable her to deliver the news more capably. "Ward has _vanished_. We can't find him anywhere. It's as if he never existed."  
  
*  
  
 _what would you give to save her?_  
  
 _ **everything**._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \+ there is a second half to this series SO DON'T LOSE HOPE.
> 
> also. thanks for sticking along for the ride because honestly, this went somewhere i'd never imagined and i kind of really enjoy the way it turned out. (you can always find me on [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com/)!)


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